Villas-Boas has identified Benteke as a potential target after missing out on David Villa, who has joined Atlético Madrid, but will be asked to pay £25 million by Aston Villa for the Belgium international.

Chelsea are also considering a move for the 22-year-old after missing out on targets of their own, including Edinson Cavani and Robert Lewandowski, while Arsenal could come into the equation if their protracted bid to sign Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuaín collapses.

Spurs are understood to be Benteke’s preferred destination, however, and Villas-Boas is ready to press ahead in his attempts to solve the club’s alarming shortage of strikers, with uncertainty surrounding the futures of both Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe.

Villa, however, are determined to demand a minimum of £25 million for the want-away forward, who has handed in a transfer request, and will take an aggressive stance in the hope of keeping him for at least one more season.

Randy Lerner, the Villa chairman, is mindful that Spurs and Chelsea – despite the latter’s vast wealth – will be reluctant to pay such a hefty fee for a player with only one Premier League season under his belt, even though he scored 23 goals in 39 appearances.

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Benteke also has three years remaining on the contract he signed last August when he arrived from Genk in an £8 million deal and Villa have made it clear they will dictate the player’s future and are quietly confident that their strict asking price could result in him starting next season with them.

Villa are not interested in any player swaps as part of any transfer and will demand a straight cash deal with all the money up front, which means Spurs will have to spend significantly more than the £17 million required to sign Paulinho from Brazilian club Corinthians.

The Midlanders’ stance has been hardened by their disappointment at the conduct of Benteke’s agent, Eris Kismet, who they believe to be hugely influential in the shock development on Monday.

Benteke has not travelled with Paul Lambert’s squad to Germany and has made it clear he will not sign the contract extension that was offered him to last month – a deal that would have doubled his current terms of £20,000 a week.

Spurs will offer him a even more attractive salary but the stumbling block will be the transfer fee, plus Villa’s determination to play hardball.

Darren Bent is heading for the exit regardless of Benteke’s future and Wolfsburg have emerged as the latest club to consider offering the England international an escape route.

Newcastle United and Fulham remain interested and are hopeful that Villa will lower the original asking price of around £8 million.

Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, has confirmed his desire to link up with Bent for a second time and wants the green light from his board to make an official bid.

“The obvious target at the moment is a striker, and we have four or five targets,” Pardew said. “It’s difficult. I know there’s been speculation, particularly about Darren Bent.

“I think I can comment on that because it sounds like at Aston Villa, he’s not particularly involved. There is an interest in Darren, and there is an interest in three or four other players, who I shouldn’t name because of their situations at their current clubs.

“When managers talk about my players, I think it’s wrong, so I’m certainly not going to do it.”